Collapsible receptacle.



G. F. LYNCH.

coLLAPsIBLB BEGEPTAGLB.

APPLICATION FILED 00T. 10, 1908.

960,360. Patent-,ed June 7,1910.

l useful Improvements in Colla sible Recep' zov UNITED STATES PATENToEEIcE.

ennrnonn F. LY'NcH, or NEW Yonx, N. Y. v

coLLArsIBLE nEcEnTAcLE.

Specication of Letters Patent. Application led October 10, 1908. SerialNo.4 457,066.

Patented June 7, 1910.

To all whom it may concern:

' Be it knownthat I, GERTRUDE F. LYNCH, a citizen of the United States,residing at No. 207 East Fifteenth street, in the borough of Manhattan,city, county, and--State of New York, have invented certain new andtacles, of whichthe following 1s such a full, clear, and exactdescription as will enable anyone skilled in the art to which itappertains to make` out the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

My invention relates to a collapsible or folding box or receptacle whichmay be readily opened or extended when articles are to be placed thereinand also easily folded or collapsed when not in use.

The principal objects of my invention 'are to provide a device of ythiskind which is very compact either when opened or closed and that isparticularly well adapted for being applied to the underside of the seatof a bench, chair or the like, and more par.- ticularly to the seats offolding or theater chairs.

With these and other objects in view my invention consists in thevarious novel and peculiar arrangements and combinations ofthe severaldifferent parts of the device, all as hereinafter fully set forth andthen pointed out in the claims.

I have illustrated a type of my invention in the accompanying drawings,wherein Figure 1 is a perspective view of an ordinary folding or theaterchair having my improved collapsible receptacle or box attached beneaththe chair seat, which is down in position for use, the receptacle alsobeing shown as open or extended ready for use.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged front view of the chair seat and the collapsiblereceptacle, the seat being folded up and the receptacle closed. Fig. 3is an enlarged view of the chair seat and flexible receptacle-shown inFig. 1, and` with the greater part of the chair frame removed. Fig. 4 isan enlarged side view of the parts shown in Fig. 3, but with therelative positions thereof being changed, the chair seat being folded upand the collapsible receptacle being closed against the under side seat.Fig. 5 is a sectional view of details, the plane of the section beingindi- Y cated by the line 5 5, Fig. 3.

In the accompanying drawings, in which like numbers of referenceindicate like parts:

throughout, 1 indicates the back, 2 the frame work or side members, and3 the seat of a -folding or theater chair, the seat bein.

mounted on pivots l4, at each side thereo respectively and being soconstructed that the seat may be swung down into substantiallyhorizontal position, as Yshown in'-Figs. i

1 and 3, or tipped up toward the back of the v chair, as shown in Fi s.2 andl 4.

To the underside o l the seat 3is secured the collapsible receptacle,which is shown as comprising an upper part or attaching plate 0r member5, which may be securely 'fastened to the -underside ofthe seat in anysuitable manner, and the bottom 6 between which and '.the attachingmember 5, is secured iiexible material 7, which extends around threesides of the structure leaving the front thereof o en so as to form areceptacle or box-like evice. lIn the construction shown, the flexiblematerial 7, is of substantially uniform depth on all three sides, andthe bottom 6 of the rece tacle isl substantially parallel with the unerside of the seat, when the receptacle is fullyextended, as shown inFigs. 1 and 3, so as to provide a commodious storage space, though this,of course, may be varied. /In order to hold the receptacle in closedposition and also to maintain it firmly in open position, I providespring-actuated mechanism which may also have the additional function ofsustaining `the weight of the contents of the receptacle` and thusrelieve the flexible -material of undue strain. In the presentconstruction, I have shown this spring-actuated mechanism as comprisingapair of U-shaped memv bers 8 and 9, theformer of which near its centerisvpiv'oted or hinged at 10, to a suitable point on the attaching late5, or vif preferred to the seat 3 itself, W ile the latter member 9 ispivoted or hinged near its center at 11, to a suitable point on thebottom or lower part 6 of the receptacle. The side arms of the U-shapedmembers Sand .9, respectively, are crossed upon each otherand pivotedtogether at 12 and 13, respectively, and the free ends of the members 8are each provided with a pin .or stud 14, which travels in a slot 15formed in a bracket 16, which is secured to the bottom 6 of thereceptacle, at the side thereof and near its forward end. In the samemanner, thefree ends of the U-shaped member 9, are each 'provided with apin` or stud 17, which travels is secured to the upper partA orattaching.

plate 5, or directly to the seat 3,` itself in case 'the part 5 isdispensedwith.. lWhen the receptacle is closed, the 'ins 14 and 17,

lie vat the outer ends of theY ots intheir re-Y spect-ivebrackets, andwhen the rece tacle is opened to its full extent, the'plns 1e at theinner. ends of the slots, respectively, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3; Fromthis 1t will be secn'that the U-sha which inl respect to t e otherAconstitute a air of pivoted levers, ongthe lazy-tongs or-` cr, 4give asubstantial support to the. bottom ofthe receptacle when itis opened andsupplied with articlesat the same time these members serve asside-guards'or protectors which in a way'act to `protect the flexiblesides, and vlikewise the contentsof the reeeptacle. 1 This form,' also,has the advantage of causingthefpivoted crossed members to operatesimultaneously, and thereby give a more balanced and smoother action inoperating these parts. These members 8 and 9,

' are given a spring act-ion through meansrk of a coll spring 20,1onevendof which is attached at 21 toV the member 8, at a suitable pointi beond the pivoted` ointy 12, when measure from the free en of the partiv8,

while the otherend of the spring is iat-s taehed at 22, to a suitablepoint on the mem'- v ber 9, ata point between the pivotal points 12, andthe freeeend of thelever. In'this way, a snap ac tion'is given the'mechanism,

y at aA time whenH thevpivoted members are opened on each other aconsiderable dis# .tance and again ata time when they are nearly closedon each other, the snrmg thereby servin to maintain the receptaclefirmly ofthe seat, for t to a folding or .theater chair, I have also.

shown the ordinary wirer device 23 and'24, which is usuallyl secured tothe underside e purpose of receiving4 and holding a hat `in invertedvposition, the rim of the hat being inserted within thewire members 23and 24,-in a manner well known.'

'It will thus be seen that this receptacle does f not vmake itnecessaryto dispense with. this form of hat-holder, whichmay be usedl toi n hold a hat either with the receptacle in closed or open position,"thereby mcreasingfthe capacit the device as a storageplace for the orinary articles of wearing apparel which a pler'son removes and laysaside when using-a c air of this kind.

If preferred, the

u perA part or attaching member 5 maybe d members 8 and 9,

v parel which the?1 ispensed with, as the "nasce theireceptacle, maybesecured directly to the undersideof tlie seat itself. It will also beunderstood that any suitable character lof flexible `material may bevused instead of the imperforate kind shown herein. Ordinary nettin oropen work material of any suit- 'able c aracter mayy bev used.'Furthermore, :1f preferred the spring-actuated'mechanism for snappingthe receptacle intoy open or closed position and retaining it in eitherof such positions may be wholly concealedby the flexible materlalextending around the outside of it andthis may be done byliav'ingtwo'thicknesses offlexible material betweenv which these operating-parts are mounted.

Accordingly, I wish to be understood as'not limiting :my invention tothe particular forms of the various'ditferent parts hereinY shown, asmany changes may be made the same without, however,departing from thespirit of the invention.

In applying myimprovements toY ordinary 90 folding or theater'chairs,the depth of the receptacle, or.Y the distance` from the under side ofthe seat, may well be restricted to a point which will keep thereceptacle, when lled with articles, substantially "within the lines ofthe forward part ofthe chair, in orderto permit persons to. pass 1nfront of the chair when the seat'is tipped up, withoutv disturbing thereceptacle. It may also be notedthat thisreceptacle when combined withthe seat of a chalror lbench is of great use in theaters, churches,schools or otherl places where persons assemble in numbers, andrequirela handy place for temporarily storing the ordinary articles of--wearing aplay aside on suchoccasions. `This receptac e is o ened bylpressing down by pushing up onit.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent isz- '1 v`1..-'1`he combination with a seat, ofa-collassible receptacle mounted upon the under si e thereof and rovidedwith an opening in one side throug -whichthe articles are introducedinto andremoved from the receptacle, a air of vertically arranged leversupon eac i of two op site. sides of Said receptacle and each pair havingits twolevers pivotedftogether intermediate their respective ends Aandthe endsthereof pivoted to lon the front part of t e lower rim'andclosed the top and bottom ofgsaid receptacle, 'respec- 2.Thercombination with a seat, a col1apsione lever an saidiOP and one endo f ble rece -tacle provided with an o ening in one slde through whichthe articles are introduced into and removed from the receptacle, a pairof levers upon each of two opposite sides of said receptacle and eachpair having the two levers pivoted to each other and having their endspivoted to the top and bottom of said receptacle, respectively, thecorresponding levers upon the said opposite sides being secured at theirrear ends to rigid members hin ed, respectively, to said top and bottomog said receptacle, and a spring acting to snap said plvoted levers intoo en and closed positions, respectively, a ter the initial movement isgiven such levers in the operation of opening and closing saidreceptacle.

3. The combination with a seat, a collapsible receptacle provided withan opening in one side through which the articles are introduced intoand removed from the receptacle, spring-actuated mechanism operativelyconnected between two opposite sides of the receptacle and comprising aset of U-shaped members pivoted by their central parts to said oppositesides of the receptacle,

respectively, and having their side parts GERTRUDE F. LYNCH.

Witnesses WILLIAM J. GIBSON, WILLIAM J. LEWIS.

